No one would refuse cookies, especially when they are home baked. Cookies are an all time favorite and an all season dish. Cookie recipes flood the internet leaving you so totally confused that you want to try as many as possible. Yes you can have your heart’s desire, trying out various types of cookies like the famous Chocolate Chip recipe, No bake cookies, brownie recipes, Halloween cookies with exciting shapes, sugar cookies and much more.

If you have kids at home then you can keep them bustling with joy with the number of cookie recipes for kids. In fact kids love different shapes to their cookies; this gives them much satisfaction while eating a different shape each time. Halloween cookies and chocolate brownies and cookies will simply vanish into thin air once you place them on the table. Not only your kids but the entire family will start hitting at the plate of cookies as fast as it is placed on the table.

You will find methods of how to make cookies very interesting because they provide you with step-by-step methods of making recipes from scratch. It is easy to make the basic recipe, but if you are interested in trying out new recipes like the Choco-chip recipe, ginger bread cookie recipes etc. you surely will have to consult an expert or check up the online sites for guidance.

The aroma of freshly baked cookies is so strong that it would draw the entire family near the bake. The basic ingredients that one would require to make a simple cookie recipe are flour, butter, eggs, sugar, baking flour, salt, essence and other add-ons like chocolate chips, ginger, pepper, icing sugar, peanut butter, cream, nuts, royal icing etc. They would be required depending on the type of cookies you plan to make.

This Christmas surprise your family with the very best Christmas special cookies that are listed out in most websites. Give them a great treat with shapes like the Christmas tree and Santa. It will not be only your kids but your entire family would love you for this great treat that you have turned out from your recipe websites. There could be no better way to celebrate Christmas than having fun with the family, so try out some of your best cookie recipes for kids this festive season and enjoy the glee you see in their eyes, it’s interesting truly.

Vegan cookies, gluten-free cookies, wheat-free cookies…healthy cookie recipes are easy to make if you are willing to experiment with a few alternative quality ingredients. Agave nectar is the perfect sweetener for such baked treats. Not only because of its superiority to refined sugars, but also for its moisture-retaining qualities.

Healthy Cookie Recipes Can Be Made Without Sugar, Butter, Eggs, Or Milk!

Let’s start with a solid base of ground nuts. We can use whatever fits best our personal preferences and budget. Pecans tend to be a bit more expensive than almonds and hazelnuts (filberts), walnuts are often on sale or available at a less expensive regular price. Always buy bulk, and halves and pieces are just fine. No need to get whole nuts since we ground them up anyway.

A good cookie recipe should include some fat. As we want to keep this healthy, nutritious, and acceptable for vegans, let’s forget about the butter and choose instead almond, cashew, or peanut butter, or a combination thereof. If you don’t like the flavor or price of nut butters, substitute with organic canola oil.

Great, but what about the flour if we want to make gluten-free cookies? The answer is: organic brown rice flour! Works like a charm and is much healthier than white flour.

Next up: which sweetener? As stated above, agave nectar is a great sweetener for baked goods. Similar to honey, it helps retain the moisture in cookies and cakes. It also blends quickly and easily with all other ingredients for a well-mixed batter.

To add flavor to this basic healthy cookie mix, use some vanilla or almond extract, ground cinnamon, crushed anise seeds, and a pinch of salt, of course.

And to add even more nutritional value, consider lightly toasted rolled oats, raisins, sesame seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds. My goodness…what to do with all that energy?

Why This Is An Easy Healthy Cookie Recipe For Vegan Cookies And Gluten-Free Cookies

We don’t really need a recipe for these incredible power morsels of nutrition. It all depends on what we have on hand, or what we like to eat, or what we want to buy. Here is a simple recipe template utilizing the ingredients discussed above:

4 cups ground nuts

1 cup nut butter or 1/2 cup organic canola oil

1 cup organic brown rice flour

3/4 cups agave nectar

1 Tablespoon vanilla or almond extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon crushed anise seeds, cardamom, or other spices

1 teaspoon salt

Optional: 1/2 cup each raisins or toasted oats or seeds

The individual ingredient quantities don’t really matter that much. The template is just a general guide line. Our goal is to mix a batter that holds its shape when divided into cookie-size balls. We might have to add a little water if the mix is too dry and crumbly. Or, we might have to add more brown rice flour to a wet and sloppy batter.

This is the best part: As we are not using raw eggs, we can taste our cookie batter before we bake it off! Add more agave nectar if you like it sweeter, more spices or seeds, until you are happy!

Important points for the baking process!

Place 2-inch balls on a parchment-lined cookie pan and flatten lightly with a fork (similar to making peanut butter cookies, dip the fork in cold water before pressing it on the cookie portions)

Use a fairly low oven temperature: 8-10 minutes at 300-325 degrees; agave nectar browns a little faster than sugar, so keep an eye on your cookies and don’t let them get too dark on the bottom!

Remember, there are no raw eggs in our batter; we won’t have to bake it completely through. A lightly “under-baked” interior is wonderful!

So, be adventurous and experiment with a variety of nuts, seeds, dried fruits, spices, and whatever you love in your gourmet vegan cookie. As long as you don’t burn them black, they will always be good eating. And because they are so healthy and nutritious, they’ll be good for you, too!

You will often hear, “My chocolate chip cookies did not turn out.” Inevitably it is then quickly blamed on the recipe used, and then the quest for a new recipe ensues. The odds are that the recipe used was just fine, but how the cookie ingredients were measured and mixed probably had more to do with the poor outcome.

There are so many recipes to choose from, it can be confusing. Each recipe will produce a similar tasting product, but depending on how the ingredients were used, each recipe will produce a cookie with its own set of textural characteristics and traits.

Butter: This is the fat that makes a cookie rich and palatable. Unsalted butter is the best to use as you can better control the salt amount in your recipe.

White and brown sugar: These sugars sweeten the cookie while also adding textural qualities. More brown sugar will make a soft chewy cookie while large amounts of white sugar will make a drier crispy cookie.

Eggs: Eggs are emulsifiers. This means that they help keep fats evenly distributed throughout the cookie making it thick and stable.

Extracts: Flavoring that give pastries a subtle underlying flavor. The most common extracts for a chocolate chip cookie are vanilla and almond.

All-Purpose flour: This is the most common flour found in the household kitchen, and the most recommended for baking cookies. The more flour used, the more dense the cookie. Self rising flour is not recommended.

Leavening agents: Baking powder and baking soda are the two most common gas producing agents that are used to make the cookie rise in the oven. Soda will produce a cookie that spreads more, as a double acting baking powder will make a fluffier cookie.

Salt: Salt actually enhances the sweetness and all the other flavors in the cookie. Sea salt is the best because it is a pure fine salt without additives.

Chocolate Chips: Semi-sweet chocolate chunks were in the first ever chocolate chip cookie, however, any flavor can be put into this classic cookie recipe.

Nuts: Nuts are optional in any cookie recipe, but add a crunchy texture and added layer of flavor. Walnuts and pecans are the most classic choice.

No matter which way you like your chocolate chip cookie, this is the most common set of ingredients that go into a basic recipe. Since the first cookie was made in 1933 there have been many alterations to the original recipe, but few recipes stray far from the tried and true classic list of ingredients.